Only Skin Deep by Mahalia Levey

silence didn’t distract him enough to bring a semblance of peace.
His mind drifted back years to his hospital stay. He fought the resurfacing
memories he’d yet to put behind him, the events cultivating him into the man
he’d become.
    “Where
is she?”
    The
frantic voice saved him from his unwanted reminiscing. A distressed woman ran
smack dab into him, bouncing off his chest. His quick reflexes saved her from
careening into the floor. “Where’s who?”
    “My sister Deja ?”
    Derek
relaxed. “She’s having a CT scan done. My name’s Derek.” He set her firmly on
her feet. “I’d offer my hand but you have them both right now.” He grinned.
    “Katrina.
Mama sent me to check on her, she doesn’t handle hospitals well.” Deja’s sister smoothed her clothing down. “Can you tell me
what happened? The hospital called, saying she was in a car accident. Black ice
is freaky. I kept imaging the worst all the way here.”
    Derek
motioned to the only comfortable chair in the tiny room. “She smacked into a
wall of packed snow and bumped her head. They’re just checking her out.” He
attempted to smile hoping it shone through.
    “Oh
thank heavens, that means she hasn’t broken anything.”
    Derek
took in Katrina, weighing her looks to his Deja’s and
found slight similarities. Katrina had a more open welcoming air about her.
Perhaps waiting for news with someone wouldn’t be as bad as waiting alone. “No
need to worry, trust me, your sister was her good ole self cursing up a streak
as they took her.” A soft chuckle left his lips. Pain radiated in the back of
his neck, reminding him he was overdue for a massage. Instead of finding
someone to work the kink out, he ignored the twinge.
    “If
you don’t mind my asking, how do you know my sister?”
    “We
share similar interests.” He avoided directly linking him personally to Deja , wanting to protect her wishes at the expense of his
own.
    “Look,
I know Deja’s a private woman, she’s my sister and I
know her well. If she was hiding something, one of us girls would’ve picked up
on it.”
    Derek
clicked the nurse button on the remote attached to the bed, avoiding the
question. “How many of you girls are there?”
    “Six
girls, Deja’s the oldest,
then there’s me, Katonah, the twins Sarah and Toni, lastly Mercedes, followed
by Jackson and David our brothers.”
    Perfect,
this one seemed to like to talk a lot. “Sounds like you have a huge family.” He
watched her watching him not falling for the looming unsaid grilling. If this were
a humorous situation he’d have his ear bent to a litany of rapid fire questions.
No doubt both sides would be evenly matched.
    “Mr. Tresvant .” Deja’s nurse
popped her head in the room.
    “Any news Jenny?”
    “Yes,
I’m so sorry. I meant to come in earlier.” She stepped in to acknowledge the
additional family member. “The neuro surgeon has
conferred with the emergency room doctor, they’ve decided Ms. Crane should
remain overnight for observation.”
    “Why?
Did you find something bad about my sister?”
    “Her
injury isn’t severe or unnatural for a head bump she’s sustained from the car
accident. Even slight frontal bleeds can swell up undetected. They just want to
make sure hers doesn’t swell too much.”
    Derek
sighed in relief. “It’ll be okay Katrina.” He turned to address the nurse. “Do
you know how she is doing?”
    “Your
sister is in great hands Katrina, this is merely a precaution, a prevention of
sorts to reassure her and the docs that nothing else will pop up overnight.
They fully expect to discharge her following first rounds tomorrow morning. You
can go up to the second floor in about ten minutes. She’ll be in room 210a.The
bed closest to the door.”
    Derek
gathered the bag of Deja’s clothing, purse, coat and
his own. “Why don’t we go on up, she should be in the room by the time we make
our way there.”
    As
Katrina grabbed her belongings, he held the door open